Kazakhstan has the first Buk-M2E air defence system.

The first battalion set of the Russian-made 9K317M2E Buk-M2E (SA-17 ‘Grizzly’) air defence system has been received, the Ministry of Defence announced earlier in the week. Buk-M2E sold to Kazakhstan is known to be the export variant of Buk-M2. Negotiations are ongoing between Kazakhstan and Russia for the purchase of a second Buk-M2E.

In May 2018, the parties signed a contract for the acquisition of Buk-M2E at the KADEX-2018 defence fair in Kazakhstan. The system was expected to be delivered to Kazakhstan last year, but the delay is estimated to have been caused by COVID-19.

Russian experts are reportedly working in jointly to deliver the complex and make it available to Kazakhstan’s air defence forces. With a third-generation phase-scanning firing control radar, the Buk-M2 is able to simultaneously send missiles to four of the 24 targets it can track.